Walpole school district welcomes new teachers, hopes to have money for more

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2013 at 7:50 PM

Walpole schools are falling into gear as the summer winds down, prepping the facilities and staff for students’ return in September.

Brittney McNamara

Walpole schools are falling into gear as the summer winds down, prepping the facilities and staff for students’ return in September.

With less than two weeks before schools open, Superintendent Lincoln Lynch said the department’s back to school prep is running smoothly. Though schools will see more students and teachers than previous years, Lynch said both the buildings and the budget are in good shape.

Since school ended, the state secured local aid for Walpole, which Lynch said will likely benefit the school system. Though the money must be appropriated through Town Meeting, Lynch said he hopes to use some of the recurring revenue for staffing.

Walpole trained 32 new teachers this summer, Assistant Superintendent Jean Kenney told the School Committee at Thursday night’s meeting. Through what she called rigorous professional development, many of the department’s staff is coming to school this September with updated skills.

"Everyone who worked with them remarked on what a wonderful and enthusiastic group they are," Kenney said of the new hires.

The schools were able to hire some new teachers by eliminating outsourcing of some special needs consultation, making the service in-house. Through the Walker Behavioral Program, Walpole used to hire consultants to help the schools teach students who did not participate well in a traditional classroom environment. Now, Lynch said this service will come from within.

"For more than 10 years, this district has contracted that service out," Lynch said. "It’s important for parents to know that business structure has changed, but the people and the service model have not changed."

Some of the outside consultants Walpole previously used through the Walker Program are now part of the in-house effort. Through eliminating the outsourcing, the district was able to cut $100,000 from their budget.

With money left over from last year’s override, the district has implemented a new math program that lines up with the state and federal common core, an effort to make the nation’s school curriculums more uniform.

In Walpole, the new program means higher level thinking Lynch said.

"The rigor of the math program will have a significant ratchet up," he said. "It’s more than computation."

Lynch hopes the town will see improved MCAS scores in the next few years, though he said he doesn’t expect them immediately.

"It takes two to three years to turn the ship," he said.

So far, 108 new students have registered for Walpole schools, though Lynch said there has been almost equal migration out of the school system as there has been in. The high school saw more enrollment than usual, Lynch said, with 26 new students.

Even with new students, Lynch reported to the School Committee that class sizes are in better shape than past years.

"It’s very encouraging, especially considering where we were a couple years ago," Lynch said about class sizes.

At the high school, Lynch said there are no classes with more than 30 students, and very few in the elementary and middle schools.

With many new students, bus routes are changing slightly, Lynch said. The district’s 17 busses will accommodate the new students through routes published in this paper.

In other budget news, Lynch said the school’s food department is thriving while other districts have finished in a deficit. Unlike previous years when Walpole’s food service was suffering, Lynch said reorganization has helped restore the program, even in the face of expensive federal and state mandates.

"The food is more expensive and the portions are smaller," Lynch said of the mandates. "We made healthy food appealing. I think it will improve, I expect to see more participation."

School security cameras approved by Spring Town Meeting have not been installed yet because of bureaucratic hold ups, Lynch said.

"In May, I had hoped to install them by the beginning of the school year," he said. "To dot all our ‘i’s’ and cross all our ‘t’s’, I’m satisfied by that."

Consultation on camera placement and the bidding process have delayed the process, which Lynch now said he expects to be finished by Thanksgiving.

Lynch said the school buildings are in good shape, undergoing the annual summer cleaning. Most are finished and ready for use, and those that aren’t will be finished before school starts, he said.

Through the Massachusetts School Building Authority, Walpole received $750,000 for a new roof, windows and boiler at the Fisher School. With the money left over after those projects, the department hopes to fix up the Boyden and Elm Street schools’ roofs, Lynch said.

Grades 1 through 12 start on Sept. 3, after the Labor Day holiday, while preschool and kindergarten start on Sept. 9. With no snow days, school ends on June 18 for grade school and June 16 for preschool and kindergarten. February and April vacations both start on the third week of the month, and holiday vacation in December runs from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1. The school calendar and school start times can be found here.